SAIGE Conference – Society for Sexual, Affectional, Intersex, and Gender Expansive Identities

SAIGE 2024 Annual Conference: Elevating Advocacy

The Society for Sexual, Affectional, Intersex, and Gender Expansive Identities (SAIGE) is a division of the American Counseling Association (ACA). SAIGE’s mission is to advocate for the voice, equity, and inclusion of LGBTGEQIAP+ persons within the counseling profession and beyond and to promote the professional development of counselors and related professionals to ensure that all LGBTGEQIAP+ individuals receive ethical, culturally-inclusive, liberating services that attend to all aspects of their intersectional identities.

October 4th & 5th, 2024, Denver Marriott West, Golden, CO

Register now for our conference here!

The room block at the conference hotel has been filled! However, there may still be rooms available at the regular hotel rate. Please check the Denver Marriott West website.

Conference theme: Elevating Advocacy

Members of the LGBTGEQIAP+ community continue to be at increased rates of risk in areas such as physical safety, mental health, housing security, access to healthcare, and both educational and employment opportunities. Considered among the highly politicized nature of LGBTGEQIAP+ rights in the United States, as evidenced by the hundreds of anti-LGBTQ bills proposed nationally each year (i.e., over 400 in 2024 alone), it is critical that we prioritize and celebrate advocacy efforts in support of the LGBTGEQIAP+ community.

To this end, SAIGE is proud to announce the theme of its 2024 conference: Elevating Advocacy. The SAIGE 2024 conference seeks to bring awareness to a broad range of advocacy needs, efforts, and approaches. Based on the diversity of community needs, depth of training in advocacy, and limited resources to support advocacy initiatives, this conference will provide an opportunity for members to connect and collaborate with one another to develop and build awareness around efficient, effective advocacy efforts toward an elevated level of professional competence that can be integrated into all aspects of counselor education, practice, supervision, and of course, advocacy.

On-Ground Keynote Speaker: Jax Gonzalez, PhD, MEd, Political Director at One Colorado

Dr. Gonzalez is a first-generation college student and queer and trans community organizer who has dedicated their career to community organizing toward collective liberation. With a dedication to bridging the gap between direct services and systemic social change, they have built a specialized expertise in social justice youth development, civil rights, education policy, and health equity. Jax is based in Denver, Colorado and when they aren't working toward collective liberation, they love a good puzzle, throwing pottery, exploring hot springs with their partner & playing with their tiny dog Nora.

Previous Conferences

Take a look at the locations and pictures for our previous conferences!